What's Next?

The very places visited in April 2023 are not possible to be visited now in person. This is due to the current state of war in Israel. There is tremendous hostility toward Americans due to our country's support of Israel in this war. I could see and feel the tension when I was there in April but did not understand how soon things would change there. It's a lesson to us all to not procrastinate. Start doing today what you know is God's will for you to do. Tomorrow may be too late.

Where do we go from here?

I had a great visit recently via telephone with George, my friend in Israel, who helped me tremendously during the April visit to Israel. George is very fluent in Arabic, so he translated for me while I was seeing patients, not to mention being a guide and driving us everywhere we went. He knows the short cuts and how to get around there much better than I ever could. I would have had a wreck more than once trying to navigate like he can with ease. Every evening when we finished the day of traveling and seeing patients, we got back to his humble home in Nof Hagalil where his wife, two sons, and daughter partook of a wonderful supper time and then visited for a while before George would drop me off at the hotel in Nazareth where I stayed to rest and sleep during the evenings. It has been very grieving for me to see what is happening there in Israel and how it is affecting George and his family. People all over Israel are so stressed and under great threat right now.

George has told me that due to the multitude of new checkpoints, detours, and restrictions to traffic flow, what was possible to do with some difficulty is now only possible with great difficulty. Only Arabs can travel into Judea and Samaria regions currently due to the war. Bombs are falling in places we visited and on buildings we saw just last April. The question then arises of how it will be possible to do any work there right now. I can say with certainty that none of this has caught God off guard.

I was at work in the clinic here in North Carolina this week and felt compelled to look at some options that God put on my mind regarding doing remote work currently that is not possible to do in person. I've been pondering in the past how to do remote work there using medical equipment designed to use remotely and have some very promising prospects in mind, but then there is the problem with getting access to internet to use in a war zone. This last week, it entered my mind to check into Starlink satellite internet coverage. So, I started doing some reading about it. I was shocked to then learn that Starlink was just approved by Israel four days earlier.

George and I are now pursuing a goal of us getting a satellite internet account as soon as it's possible and combining that with equipment that is connected to internet. This will enable George to use the tool of medical assistance to open doors to homes of people that he otherwise would have more difficulty. This way we can still work together to accomplish the work of evangelism. Once we get this set up, I'll be able to see, hear, talk with, and examine patients using these tools. This will bridge the gap between times of in person visits there which will hopefully be possible in the near future.

I am writing to you to let you know what's going on with this ministry currently in this time of war and how we are adapting our approach to still do what we feel led to do.

1. Please pray for things to work out for our good with regard to getting the needed accounts set up and the right equipment purchased that will work as intended.

2. Please pray for George and his family in Nof Hagalil (city adjoining Nazareth).

3. Please pray for those who are contacted and helped that they come to know Jesus Christ in faith.

Thank you for your support and God's blessings to you.